Rs 27 cr sanctioned for HP power projectHamirpur, May 17
The Government of India has sanctioned Rs 27 crore under the Accelerated Power Development Programme for the Hamirpur circle, which would facilitate the people of the Hamirpur and Jawalamukhi areas in getting quality power.

Hamirpur tops in road densityHamirpur
This district is considered to be one of the leading districts in India in the sphere of roads.
The area has seen a “road revolution” since September 1, 1972, when it was made into a full-fledged district after the trifurcation of Kangra district.

MoD to review construction banKasauli, May 17
Rescinding its declaration of imposing a blanket ban on all types of construction activity and plantation within an aerial distance of 900 metres from the crest of the defence area in this cantonment, the Ministry of Defence has agreed to conduct a survey to review this decision.

Special status to hill states: CM to meet panelShimla, May 17
The Himachal Pradesh government would take up with the Planning Commission of India the matter of setting up of the Trans-Himalayan Development Authority. This was stated by Himachal Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, while presiding over a meeting convened in this regard here on Wednesday evening.

Poor water supply in
Nurpur areasNurpur, May 17
The lack of coordination between the civil administration and the Irrigation-cum-Public Health
(IPH) Department has resulted in an acute shortage of potable water in the rural areas of this subdivision. The government has yet to press water tankers into service in these areas even though the local water resources have started drying up due to intense heat.

Masked men attack HPSEB employeesShimla, May 17
Employees of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board here today held a demonstration in front of Vidyut Bhavan in protest against the alleged beating up of an employee by
S.K. Soni, a superintending engineer and an attack on three other employees at the Tutu transmission circle by masked men.

Probe into police selections soughtKangra, May 17
Amid Kumar, a resident of Gheen village, has levelled charges of irregularities in the selection of candidates by the Police Department at
Sakoh. The youth has requested the Governor and the Chief Minister to order an inquiry into the selections and set aside the enrolment.

Three held for smuggling deodar sleepersMandi, May 17
Three persons were arrested and nine deodar sleepers which were being smuggled to Balh area in an old Fiat car, were seized at a naka set up by the police at a point, 5 km from here on the Mandi- Kulu national highway today. The car has been impounded.

Mahila Cong’s shanti yatra on May 21Solan, May 17
Ms Shikha Kapoor, a general secretary, of the All-India Mahila Congress, at press conference here yesterday, said that the Mahila Congress would organise nationwide “Matri Shakti Shanti Yatras” on May 21, to mark death anniversary of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Stress
laid on physical educationShimla, May 16Highlighting the importance of physical education Prof
G.C. Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra,
said physical education should be made an integral part of education
at different levels. He said India was a vast country but its
performance in sports was dismal.

Hamirpur, May 17
The Government of India has sanctioned Rs 27 crore under the Accelerated Power Development Programme for the Hamirpur circle, which would facilitate the people of the Hamirpur and Jawalamukhi areas in getting quality power. Speaking at a public meeting at Chamiana village yesterday, Parliamentary Secretary Urmil Thakur said the construction and maintenance of roads was being given special attention by the government. She said that 3,000 km of roads had been constructed in the state during the past four years and more than 3,200 km metalled.

Ms Thakur said that Rs 170 crore would be spent under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojan during the current financial year to provide connectivity in the rural areas. A new scheme, Mukhyamantri Gram Path Yojna, had also started this year. The budget for roads had increased from Rs 90 crore in 1997-98 to Rs 339 crores during the current financial year, she added.

Referring to the health sector, Ms Thakur said health care was one of the priorities of the government. The government had formulated Health Vision-2020, which envisages to ensure basic health facilities at the doorsteps of people, besides bringing down the birth and the death rates.

Hamirpur
This district is considered to be one of the leading districts in India in the sphere of roads.

The area has seen a “road revolution” since September 1, 1972, when it was made into a full-fledged district after the trifurcation of Kangra district. Work on roads was taken up on a war footing and now the district has the highest road density of 132.64 km per 100 sq km. It was just 16 km in 1966 .

Credit for the “road revolution” goes to the previous Congress and the present BJP government in the state. There has been marked progress in the construction of new roads, metalling and tarring of roads and the construction of bridges and culverts.

Prior to 1966, when Hamirpur was part of the erstwhile Kangra district, the then Hamirpur tehsil had a total road length of 183 km , including 143 km of kutcha roads. At that time, there were only a dozen small and medium bridges in the area.

However, when Hamirpur became a district the figure rose to 289 km, including 214 km of kutcha roads. The road density, which was 16 km per 100 sq km in the year 1966, rose to 25.

All gram panchayats have pucca or kutcha roads. Work is in progress to provide all-weather roads in all panchayats under the Prime Minister’s Gramin Sarak Yojna.

The total length of roads in the district has now increased to 1,483 km, including 917 km of pucca roads. The number of bridges over khuds and the Beas has risen to 58. It was just a dozen in 1966.

Road and bridge construction work has been undertaken on priority during the past four years’ rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party and 326 km of new roads added at a cost of Rs 41.19 crore.

Under the Prime Minister’s Gramin Sarak Yojna 51 villages were provided with pucca roads and work is on to cover 114 more villages.

As many as 28 new bridges were also constructed at a cost of about Rs 911.37 lakh.

Two of the four new national highways pass through Hamirpur district.

The main endeavour of the Chief Minister is to link all villages of the state by road and Hamirpur district is likely to be the first to achieve the target.

Kasauli, May 17
Rescinding its declaration of imposing a blanket ban on all types of construction activity and plantation within an aerial distance of 900 metres from the crest of the defence area in this cantonment, the Ministry of Defence has agreed to conduct a survey to review this decision.

Following objections by the state government that such a declaration imposed under the works of Defence Act, 1903 was unjustified with regard to this cantonment, the MoD has formed a Board of Officers. Sources reveal that this board, to be headed by an Air Force official, in consultation with the tehsildar, the state government nominee, will survey the area to identify khasra numbers lying close to the sensitive radar installation which are likely to be affected. The survey will take into account the area where the restrictions in the form of disallowing construction activity and further plantation needs to be imposed in order to ensure the safety of the defence installation here. It will also frame rules to allow construction activity in the adjoining area in a regulated manner so as to cause no harm to air traffic or pose any security threat.

The earlier declaration dated May 22, 2001, had called for a blanket ban on all construction activity or tree plantation within 900 metres of the crest of the defence installation. However, the state government pleaded that such a restriction was an unnecessary obstruction for the locals. It would be unfair to dissuade them from carrying out further construction activity.

It was also felt that if no further plantation is allowed, the area which mainly comprises pine forest would be rendered barren as pine requires to be replanted.

Shimla, May 17
The Himachal Pradesh government would take up with the Planning Commission of India the matter of setting up of the Trans-Himalayan Development Authority. This was stated by Himachal Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, while presiding over a meeting convened in this regard here on Wednesday evening.

Mr Dhumal said that Himachal Pradesh and other Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal had difficult geographical conditions and these states needed separate yardsticks for the formulation of policies and programmes for various developmental activities. He said that these states should not be equated with other states while making budgetary provisions for different developmental programmes, keeping in view the topography of the hill state.

The Chief Minister said that with the constitution of the Trans- Himalayan Development Authority pace of development would accelerate in the hill states. He said that separate yardsticks would benefit the people of these states to get adequate funds under various programmes, especially those sponsored by the Government of India and external agencies.

He said that although the Hill Area Development Programme was introduced in the Fifth Five-year Plan to cover the development aspect of hill areas in the country but no remarkable achievement could be attained. He said that with the constitution of the authority all hill states would be benefited. He stressed upon the need to take up matter with the Government of India for which detailed guidelines and modalities were being worked out.

Nurpur, May 17
The lack of coordination between the civil administration and the Irrigation-cum-Public Health (IPH) Department has resulted in an acute shortage of potable water in the rural areas of this subdivision. The government has yet to press water tankers into service in these areas even though the local water resources have started drying up due to intense heat.

According to information, the department has identified Sadwan, Ther, Mamoon Gurchal, Danni, Hatli Jamwalan, Kot Palahri and Punder gram panchayats as affected with water shortage. The department had written a letter dated April 24 to the district administration and the SDM, informing them about the problem and requisitioning five water tankers. However, nothing has been done in this regard.

Mr Pratap Shukla, zila parishad member, has criticised the apathy of government agencies.

Residents of this town get water only for 30 minutes a day. The situation of those living in higher areas is worse.

Shimla, May 17
Employees of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board here today held a demonstration in front of Vidyut Bhavan in protest against the alleged beating up of an employee by S.K. Soni, a superintending engineer and an attack on three other employees at the Tutu transmission circle by masked men.

Mr Chander Singh Mandyal, general secretary of the union, said while Mr Uma Shankar, personal assistant, suffered multiple injuries, including fractures, after being beaten up by Soni, Mr Amarjit Rana, junior engineer, and Mr Devinder, foreman, were seriously injured in the attack at Dehra. He alleged that the management of the board was shielding the guilty superintending engineer and demanded his immediate suspension.

He said as a result of these incidents, employees of the board were feeling insecure. Incidents of masked men attacking employees during night while they were on duty, was unheared of in the state.

He alleged that no arrest had been made and the case was being hushed up at the behest of politically influential personalities.

Mr Mandyal also expressed surprise over the transfers of 12 employees of the Chhota Shimla electricity division and said the action smacked of vendetta. He demanded immediate cancellation of the transfers.

Kangra, May 17
Amid Kumar, a resident of Gheen village, has levelled charges of irregularities in the selection of candidates by the Police Department at Sakoh. The youth has requested the Governor and the Chief Minister to order an inquiry into the selections and set aside the enrolment.

Amid Kumar today sent a letter to the Governor, Mr Suraj Bhan, and the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, stating that though he had cleared all ground tests and appeared in the written test, he was declared fail. He alleged that another candidate, Balwant Singh, failed in his ground test despite availing of 15 chances but was still asked to take the written test and got selected.

Amid Kumar has requested the Chief Minister and the Governor to intervene and set aside the enrolment carried out at Sakoh, Dharamsala, from May 11 to 17.

Mandi, May 17
Three persons were arrested and nine deodar sleepers which were being smuggled to Balh area in an old Fiat car, were seized at a naka set up by the police at a point, 5 km from here on the Mandi- Kulu national highway today. The car has been impounded.

Those arrested are Roshan Lal of Kelodhar, Narpat Ram and Karam Singh of Kummi and Bhiura villages, Mr Kali Dass Sharma, SHO, who arrested the accused and was investigating the case told the reporter that the arrested persons were members of a forest mafia active in the Balh valley.

A case under Sections 41 and 42 of the Indian Forest of Act and Sections 120-B and 379 of the IPC has been registered against the accused. Another case under Section 181 of the Motor Vehicle Act has also been registered for driving without a licence.

Mr N.D. Sareen, Kangra Additional police chief said the leopard skin was recovered by the Forest official on May 14, from Ram Baghat a resident of Killa mohalla, Ludhiana The accused gave the slip to the Forest official and was said to be absconding, Mr Sareen said.

A case under Section 5 (1) Wild Life Act and section 32-33 of the Indian Forest Act was registered. Mr Sareen said.

Shimla, May 16
Highlighting the importance of physical education Prof G.C. Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra, said physical education should be made an integral part of education at different levels. He said India was a vast country but its performance in sports was dismal.

Indian youth had a lot of potential in sports and there was need to tap it .

Solan, May 17
Ms Shikha Kapoor, a general secretary, of the All-India Mahila Congress, at press conference here yesterday, said that the Mahila Congress would organise nationwide “Matri Shakti Shanti Yatras” on May 21, to mark death anniversary of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

She said that the yatra would start from the Amar Jawan Jyoti in New Delhi and terminate at 24, Akbar Road. The yatra would focus on the atrocities “being committed against the women of minority community” and also emphasise the need of re-establishing communal harmony in the country particularly in Gujarat.”

Ms Kapoor, who is also in charge of the Mahila Congress Affairs in Himachal, said that she was undertaking a tour of all 12 districts of Himachal to strengthen party base.

She said that people in villages were unhappy with the BJP-HVC combine regime and would to get rid this rule in the state.

A former local MLA, Ms Krishna Mohini, who was also present said that she would lead Matri Shakti Shanti Yatra starting from outside the Shoolini temple here on May 21.

She also demanded that announcement of relief for the farmers of this district, whose crop had been damaged by hailstorm recently.

Bilaspur, May 17
The Bilaspur Consumers Welfare Association here has protested against the 90 per cent hike in the monthly cable rent fixed by the Deputy Commissioner, making it Rs 190 from the present rate of Rs 100. The association today challenged the fixation of the rate by the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, and expressed doubts if he Commissioner was competent to do so under any law.

Calling the rate very high the leaders said the rate was fixed under pressure from some powerful and influencial cable operators in Shimla.

They said the Deputy Commissioner must withdraw the order. The leaders appreciated the response of the Central Government in this regard.

Nurpur, May 17
On the occasion of World Telecom Day today, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) commissioned a new telephone C-Dot exchange with 256 lines at Malanta in Fatehpur tehsil of Jawali subdivision.